What is the story behind Apollo and Daphne by Bernini?
Apollo and Daphne is a life-sized statue by the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Borghese Gallery in Rome. The story of Apollo and Daphne comes from Greek and Roman mythology and is one of doomed, unrequited love.
What is happening with Daphne in the sculpture Apollo and Daphne?
When Phoebus (Apollo), clothed with Cupid’s love arrow, sees Daphne, the daughter of Peneus, the river god, he is amazed at her beauty and absorbed in desire. But Daphne was doomed to Cupid’s repulsive love and denied the love of men.
What does Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne sculpture interpret?
Like Bernini’s 1622 sculpture The Rape of Proserpina, Apollo and Daphne has a cartouche with a moral aphorism by Pope Urban VIII. Attributing Christian moral value to a pagan subject was a way of justifying the statue’s presence in the Borghese villa.
What are the characteristics of Apollo and Daphne?
When famed Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini unveiled Apollo and Daphne in 1625, the marble work was resoundingly hailed as a meraviglia—a marvel. Not yet 30 years old, the sculptor had captured motion, transformation, sexual appetite, and terror more convincingly than any other artist working in stone before him.
What is the moral of Apollo and Daphne?
Daphne’s Moral Choice. Daphne wishes to remain true to herself. She listens to her heart. The God Apollo pursues her regardless.
Who was Apollo in love with?
Daphne
The sharp, gold-tipped arrow pierced the heart of Apollo inflaming his love for Daphne, a beautiful nymph, daughter of the river god Peneus, while the blunt, lead-tipped arrow struck the nymph creating an intense aversion for love in the her heart.
Why does Daphne run from Apollo?
Daphne is forced to sacrifice her body and become the laurel tree as her only form of escape from the pressures of Apollo’s constant sexual desires. Apollo crafts himself a wreath out of her laurel branches and turning her symbol of chastity into a cultural symbol for him and other poets and musicians.
What is the message of Apollo and Daphne?
So the story of Daphne and Apollo has been interpreted to centre around the themes of lust and chastity. Animal metaphors were used by Ovid to portray Apollo as the predator, whereas Daphne became the prey. Words such as “flight” are used, which fit with the use of the words “dove” and “eagle” throughout the verses.
Why does Apollo fall in love with Daphne in Apollo’s tree?
Greek Mythology states that Apollo had been mocking the God of Love, Eros (also known as Cupid). In retaliation, Eros fired two arrows: a gold arrow that struck Apollo and made him fall in love with Daphne, and a lead arrow that made Daphne hate Apollo.
Why did Zeus eat his wife?
In some versions of Greek mythology, Zeus ate his wife Metis because it was known that their second child would be more powerful than him. After Metis’s demise, their first child Athena was born when Hephaestus cleaved Zeus’s head open and the goddess of war emerged, fully grown and armed.
Who has Apollo slept with?
One time when Apollo was away performing his godly duties, Coronis fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus. Going against her father’s warnings, she slept with him in secret. Apollo, however, came to know of this affair through his prophetic powers.
Who broke Apollo’s heart?
Apollo was heart-broken at the loss of Daphne and to remember her for ever, he made the laurel the symbol of tribute to poets. The laurel became therefore the symbol of the god.
